Washington

SAN FRANCISCO — The municipal bond market does a poor job providing retail buyers with necessary information, a worse job providing them with continuing disclosure about their investments, and is an awful place to sell those investments.

WASHINGTON — Just four days after being appointed to spearhead the creation of the new consumer bureau, Elizabeth Warren has hit the ground running.

WASHINGTON — James T. Kelly, a Securities and Exchange Commission administrative law judge who presided over several municipal bond enforcement cases, plans to retire later this month after 42 years of public service, with more than 11 spent at the SEC, the commission announced Tuesday.

SAN FRANCISCO — An analyst painted a grim picture of the state of disclosure in the municipal bond market, after Securities and Exchange Commissioner Elisse Walter Tuesday kicked off the SEC’s first regional municipal securities field hearing here.

A national infrastructure bank could complement an extended Build America Bonds program, but no detailed proposal for the bank is ready to be unveiled soon by the Obama administration, officials told the Senate Banking Committee ­Tuesday.

WASHINGTON — Mega muni investor Peter Kuhn is bullish on muni bonds, but says investors should be very careful about what they buy and issuers should provide more timely and informative secondary market information.

Rep. Jim McDermott has introduced legislation that would allow for an unlimited amount of clean renewable energy bonds to be issued through 2013, but would revoke the ability of state and local governmental entities to issue them, leaving only public power providers, electric cooperatives, and tribal utilities as CREBs issuers.

SAN FRANCISCO — On the eve of its first field hearing on the municipal securities market here, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued an “investor bulletin” highlighting the key characteristics and risks of munis, while two self-regulators jointly released a notice reminding dealers of their obligations to investors while selling them munis in the secondary market.

Municipal bond issuance is expected to increase next year, but state and local governments will need additional federal support to grow, according to a survey of market participants.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is disputing Standard & Poor’s claims that the board’s plans to display municipal bond ratings on its EMMA website would cause it to lose significant revenue, provide few benefits to ­retail ­investors, and erode its intellectual ­property rights.

WASHINGTON — The Internal ­Revenue Service is seeking public comment on existing regulations that outline how bond attorneys should practice ­before it.

WASHINGTON — Despite a renewed push this month for a national infrastructure bank, market participants are at odds over such basic issues as how it would be funded and structured and what projects should receive its help.

WASHINGTON — The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority is considering options to trim the new $3.83 billion estimated cost of the Metrorail extension project’s second phase in order to reduce the amount of debt that will be needed.

WASHINGTON — Michael Bartolotta, vice chairman of First Southwest Co., a dealer financial advisory and underwriting firm, has been elected the new chairman of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board beginning Oct. 1, drawing concerns from non-dealer advisers that will fall under the board’s regulatory regime at the start of his term.

WASHINGTON — Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus on Thursday proposed to extend the Build America Bonds program for only one year in legislation he unveiled that would extend several expiring or expired bond and tax provisions.

A high-ranking Securities and Exchange Commission ­enforcement official warned Tuesday that issuers risk running afoul of the federal securities laws if they hide materially important information deep within bond-offering documents.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board issued a notice Wednesday making clear that it will not begin registration and rulemaking activities for non-dealer municipal advisers until after Oct. 1, as required by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has fined UBS Financial Services Inc., Wells Fargo Securities LLC, and two other firms a total of $50,500 for violating municipal trade, pricing and supervisory rules.

The top Republican on a House Financial Services Committee panel on Wednesday applauded the decision by the Federal Housing Finance Agency to block PACE energy programs nationwide.

WASHINGTON — Several derivatives market participants attending a federal roundtable here were supportive of a lag in the reporting of large or “block” over-the-counter derivative transactions that can move the market, but they were not sure how much of a delay would be reasonable.